The Antaeus Company has announced three productions for 2015 beginning with Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part I. Directed by Michael Murray, Henry IV, Part I will run March 12 – May 3, with previews beginning March 5. Shakespeare’s growing-up tale of a young man caught between the joys of hanging around London pubs with the drunken and immoral Falstaff, and taking his rightful place beside his father as a prince fighting to maintain the crown amidst civil war, is part comedy and part tragedy. From drunken revelry to the bloody battlefield, this engaging tale of fathers and sons remains one of Shakespeare’s most exciting histories.

“Opening the new season in March, Henry IV, Part I sets up a coming of age theme that is pervasive in all three plays,” suggest Antaeus co-artistic directors Bill Brochtrup, Rob Nagle and John Sloan. “As Antaeus itself continues to grow and change, these questions resonate with us, and we think they will resonate with our audience, too.”

In addition to Henry IV, Part I, the Antaeus 2015 season will include William Inge’s Picnic, directed by Cameron Watson, which runs June 11 – August 9, 2015 (opening night June 18) and Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, directed by Robin Larsen, October 8 – December 6, 2015.

Antaeus is known for its “partner casting.” In all Antaeus productions, two equally talented actors collaborate on every role, working together throughout the rehearsal process and enriching the creative experience. Audiences, who rarely see an understudy, frequently return to see the same play in the hands of an equally excellent but very different set of actors. For more information about The Antaeus Company and the 2015 Season, call (818) 506-5436 or visit www.antaeus.org.

You might want to be careful in characterizing Falstaff simply as “drunken and immoral.” According to many critics he is the “smartest, most moral and least hypocritical” “person in the room.” If you have not done so already, check out Harold Bloom’s “Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human,” particularly the opening chapter (“Shakespeare’s Universalism”) and the chapter on Henry IV. If the person who wrote those comments about Falstaff has read this book, I’d be interested to know why he/she still characteriizes Falstaff as drunken and immoral. You might also want to consider analyses in Bloom and other critics which describe Prince Hal’s “coming of age” as his development into a full-blown Machiavellian hypocrite.